Page 96 of Depths of Desire
Nico must be feeling better.
After what just happened… I bite my lip, the ghost of a smile on my face. Sex with him is nothing short of extraordinary—like being struck by lightning and wrapped in velvet all at once. My body still hums from it. My skin still glows with our passion.
But the smile doesn’t last. It slips away with the cool night breeze, replaced by the weight pressing down on my chest. If only it could stay like this. Just us. Hidden from the world. Removed fromla famiglia,from the politics, from the blood-stained loyalty that binds everything in this life.
Nico says all the right things—how we can stay here, away from the noise. How he’ll shield me from it all. But I’ve lived this life too long to believe his sweet lies. The truth is ugly and simple: once you're in, there is no out. There’s always another war. Another enemy. Another secret.
And if I refuse to be part of that world, then he’ll have to keep a part of himself separate from me. That silence between us will stretch and grow, and eventually, it will crack us open.
I watched it happen with my parents.
My mother believed my father when he whispered promises. He told her she’d never have to lift a finger. But loneliness crept in, so they went to the witch and had me. And when I didn’t give her what she wanted, she sought comfort in status. In influence. In control. In being one of them. She traded me, her own daughter, to stay on top.
As did Nico’s mother. In the end, her goal was the same, and Nico almost suffered for her greed.
I couldn’t stand with one foot in the dark and one in the light. Not withla famiglia.You’re in or you’re out—and Nico will never leave his family. Which means I’m in.
I can't run. I love him. We’re bonded in ways that defy reason—stitched together by magick, by blood, by fate. I can’t tear myself away from that, no matter how much I want to. I’m stuck. Bound to a man I love, but trapped in a life I swore I’d never live. My shoulders sag beneath the weight of that realization.
I am exactly where I never wanted to be.
“Trouble in paradise?” a voice slithers out of the shadows behind me.
My blood runs cold.
I turn slowly, my hand tightening on the balustrade.
Malrick ventures into the moonlight like a demon dressed in black silk.
“How did you get here?” I demand, voice sharper than I feel.
“The trouble’s over,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Didn’t you know? Nico eased up on the guards. It was simple, really. Too bad he didn’t value you enough to keep you safe.”
“That’s not true. He’s been…” I stop. Don’t give him information. Don’t show weakness. Nico isn’t well, and we both know it, but saying it aloud amounts to handing Malrick a weapon.
“He’s been what?” Malrick presses, stepping closer.
“Not important. The vampire kings made their ruling, so what do you want?”
He tilts his head. “I don’t care. You were promised to me. And I mean to have you.”
My heart skips. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m married to Nico. Get over it.”
Malrick laughs—a sharp, cruel sound. “You still don’t get it. The marriage was a formality. A pawn in a larger game. I’m not here to honor old rules. I’m here to take what’s mine. You will work for me. Report on the magickal creatures you see. You’ll do it as my companion... or as my slave. Makes no difference to me.” His eyes gleam, pupils dilating, and his fangs extend with sick anticipation.
Panic seizes me. I try to step sideways—he’s too fast. In an instant, he’s on me, seizing my arms with bruising force. He shakes me, and my teeth clack together. I try to scream, but terror clamps around my throat like a vise. I can’t breathe. Can’t react. I thrash and push against him, but he’s stone.
“This is going to be fun,” he hisses, his breath hot against my neck as he lowers his fangs.
My lungs unlock and I scream—raw, loud, desperate.
“Let her go, Malrick,” Nico snarls from the darkness.
Malrick stiffens, then turns, dragging me with him. “Why should I?”
“She’s mine,” Nico says as he steps onto the terrace. “You lost. Accept it gracefully, and I won’t let the vampire kings kill you.”
Malrick laughs again, darker this time. “As if you could stop them. Word is, you’re not much of a threat these days. And I know it’s true, because if you were strong enough, you’d already be on me. You’d already have torn me away from her.”
